


rooftop to the streets

by nanasuoka (DJBunn3)



Series: Voltron Bingo [8]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Existential Crisis, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-25 21:02:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16668238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJBunn3/pseuds/nanasuoka
Summary: “So…” Lance starts, unsure of what to say. “Want to tell me what you’re doing on my roof?”“... It’s my roof,” Keith replies after a beat of silence. Lance frowns, glancing down at the ground and trying not to imagine plummeting to his death. Sure enough, he’s crossed over from his section of the town house’s roof to the Yeun family’s side, if only by a tiny bit.“I guess you’re right,” he says with an awkward laugh. “Can I ask what you’re doing on your roof, then?”Keith is quiet for another few seconds, tucking his chin between his knees. “Thinking,” he decides at last, his voice soft and tired.





	rooftop to the streets

It’s a long fall from the second story balcony to the backyard below, and an even longer one from the roof.

Lance shakes the thought from his head, grabbing onto the rain gutter and wincing as his fingers dip into dirty gutter water. He pushes himself off the rail lining the balcony, using all of his upper body strength to pull himself up onto the roof, landing with an ungraceful thump and a muffled groan.

_ They make this look a lot easier in the movies, _ he thinks, pushing himself into a kneeling position and looking around. The roof is slanted, but not enough to completely throw him off balance. He might even be able to stand--he’d try if he were braver. Instead he crawls across the shingles on his hands and knees, heart beating loudly in his chest as he makes his way towards the shadowy silhouette sitting a few feet away.

“Mind if I join you?” he asks, sliding up next to Keith and trying to relax against the hard, cold roof. Keith just shrugs, arms wrapped around his knees which are pressed against his chest. He’s wearing Lance’s sweater, one that had disappeared from his wardrobe a couple of weeks prior. The sleeves cover his hands up to the second knuckle.

“So…” Lance starts, unsure of what to say. “Want to tell me what you’re doing on my roof?”

“... It’s my roof,” Keith replies after a beat of silence. Lance frowns, glancing down at the ground and trying not to imagine plummeting to his death. Sure enough, he’s crossed over from his section of the town house’s roof to the Yeun family’s side, if only by a tiny bit.

“I guess you’re right,” he says with an awkward laugh. “Can I ask what you’re doing on  _ your _ roof, then?”

Keith is quiet for another few seconds, tucking his chin between his knees. “Thinking,” he decides at last, his voice soft and tired.

“Thinking?” Lance repeats, raising an eyebrow. “What about?”

“I don’t know,” Keith says. “I really don’t. Just like, the universe, and the past, and the future, and… I don’t know.”

“Wow,” Lance says, impressed. “I thought  _ I _ was the existential one out of the two of us, but that’s a lot.”

“It sounds more dramatic than it is,” Keith explains, reaching a hand out towards the stars and splaying his fingers. It’s a clear night, the only clouds in the sky whispy and thin--perfect for stargazing on the roof, even with the risk of falling to the ground and breaking every bone in their bodies. Sure, it’s a little chilly, but it’s not enough to drive either of them back in side. (At least, not yet.)

Lance waits patiently as he collects his thoughts, pretending to squish stars out of the sky between his thumb and index finger as he does. He’s learned over the last few years that he needs to be patient with Keith instead of prodding him with a million questions like he does on instinct.

“It’s just like, does any of this really matter?” Keith continues at last, holding his thumb up to the moon. “Is anything I do gonna affect anyone in the long run? I mean, who would care if I dropped out of high school and got off the grid, or if I never went to college and lived at home for the rest of my life?”

“I’m pretty sure your dad would mind,” Lance jokes, earning a snort and a small smile for his efforts.

“That’s not really what I mean,” Keith says, quieter. “I know my dad would care, and my friends, but what about the rest of the world? The seven-point-whatever-billion people who have no idea who I am? I’m never gonna matter to them, unless I go on a killing spree or become the president of the United States and start dictating them around or- I don’t know. But I’m never going to, right? So what’s the point?”

“The point of what?” Lance asks hesitantly.

“Of everything,” Keith answers, sweeping his hand across the sky. “The point of everything.”

They fall into silence for a few minutes, neither of them knowing the answer. Lance wonders if there even  _ is _ an answer, or if maybe Keith’s right and nothing they do matters at all. After all, they’re so small in the big, wide universe--it makes sense to think that they’re insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

But he knows that can’t be right. No matter how small an impact they make on the world, it’s still an impact. Every little thing they do adds up, and soon the miniscule becomes a big deal.

“I guess I’d say it’s to do good,” he says, breaking the silence between them. “To make people happy, to make the world a better place, et cetera. All that cheesy stuff they tell us when we’re kids, y’know?”

“I guess,” Keith says, although he doesn’t sound convinced.

“And besides,” Lance rambles, gaining momentum. “It doesn’t matter if nothing you do matters in the grand scheme of things. It matters to  _ me _ . And to your dad, and your sister, and Hunk and Pidge and Shiro, too. Isn’t that enough?”

He waits anxiously for an answer, wondering if maybe he overstepped his bounds. Maybe they  _ aren’t _ enough for Keith. Maybe his whole existential crisis came about  _ because _ they weren’t enough for him. He’s just gearing up to take back his sentence when Keith sighs, a small smile flickering across his face.

“Yeah,” he agrees at last. “I guess it is.”

Lance smiles back, a warm feeling settling into his chest as he watches Keith watch the sky. They sit there for a long time, counting the constellations and watching for shooting stars that never come around. The night air is still around them, cool enough to make Lance wish he’d brought a jacket. Still, he stays next to Keith, waiting patiently until his friend starts to yawn and rub at his eyes.  _ It must be getting late _ , he thinks, looking up at the moon hanging above them like a pearl in the sky.

“We should get to bed,” he says, nodding his head towards his balcony. “It’s a school day tomorrow.”

“Maybe I’ll have another crisis and call in sick,” Keith jokes, cracking another smile. Lance snorts, shaking his head.

“You wish,” he says with a huff. “Now, um, can you help me get down?”

“Help you get down?” Keith repeats, raising an eyebrow at him.

“It felt like a bad time to mention it before, but I’m kind of terrified of heights, and I feel like I’m gonna fall and break my neck if I do it on my own.”

“Wimp,” Keith snorts goodnaturedly. “Hold on, I’ll lower you down.”

Lance crosses the roof on his hands and knees again, turning his back to the edge of the roof and holding out a hand to Keith, who rolls his eyes and accepts it.

“Don’t pull me down with you, or  _ I’ll _ break my neck,” he says as Lance grabs onto the rain gutter again.

“You should find a better moping spot,” he complains, reluctantly lowering himself off of the roof and back onto his balcony.

“I’ll do that,” Keith replies from above him. “You good?”

“Yeah.”

Lance mourns the loss of contact as soon as Keith lets go of his hand, but he doesn’t say anything out loud. Instead, he shoves his hands into his pockets and tries to push the thought out of his mind. That’s an entirely different rooftop conversation, one for a different day.

“Goodnight, Lance,” Keith says with a wave, the last traces of a smile lingering on his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Lance echoes, waving back. “Promise you’ll try to get some sleep?”

“I promise.”

“Good.”

Reluctantly, he turns back to the door, but before he can go back inside, Keith’s voice rings out again.

“Lance?”

“Yeah?” he answers, taking a step back and looking up again.

“Thank you,” Keith says, as sincere as Lance has ever heard him. “Really.”

“Of course,” Lance replies, just as sincere. “What are neighbors for?”

“Ha. Right.”

Lance smiles, giving Keith a final wave before opening the door and slipping back inside. The gust of warm air makes him shiver, and he makes a mental note to ask Keith for his sweater back before he scraps the thought.  _ Let him keep it, _ he thinks, slipping back into his bed.  _ Maybe it’ll help him remember how much he matters. _

And with that thought in mind, he falls into unconsciousness.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed : )  
> [My Tumblr](https://djbunn3.tumblr.com/)


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